UFC champion Leon Edwards welcomes Conor McGregor title defense: 'That needs to happen'

UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards thinks a title fight against Conor McGregor would be massive.

Edwards (21-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) runs things back with Belal Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) in the UFC 304 headliner July 27 in Manchester, England.

Former dual-champion McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) returns in a welterweight bout against Michael Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) in the UFC 303 main event June 29 in Las Vegas.

If both are victorious, Edwards would love to set up a mega fight with “The Notorious” towards the end of the year.

“That would be good – 100 percent. Why not?” Edwards said about fighting McGregor on The MMA Hour. “Let’s give him the opportunity to become a three-division world champion, give me the opportunity to take out a guy like Conor McGregor. New York? That would be perfect.

“That is the fight. He goes out there and takes out Michael, I take out ‘No One Remembers His Name,’ and we’ll go from there. We’ll go to New York, MSG. Let’s go. That’s the fight, I feel. You know, two of us have business to take care of. That’s the fight that needs to happen. It should happen.”

Edwards thinks McGregor will be too much for Chandler.

“I think he beats him,” Edwards said. “If you watch them stylistically, I feel like Conor is a very sharp shooter, like counter shooter, and Chandler plays off his aggression. He likes to entertain the crowd, try to scrap. He’s too small, as well. It’s going to be a good fight, but I’m favoring Conor.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 304.